Middle East Nuclear Programs a Decade Away, Blix Says

It would take at least 10 years for Egypt or Jordan to launch nuclear energy programs, former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said Thursday in Cairo (see GSN, Jan. 19).

He urged Egypt to sign the Additional Protocols allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct more intrusive inspections of any nuclear sites, the Associated Press reported.  Jordan has already pledged to allow such measures, Blix said.

“I think it is desirable for world confidence that nuclear power is being used for peaceful purposes.  A good and effective inspection system is needed.  I hope Egypt joins as soon as possible,” he said.

In the shadow of Iran’s continued push for nuclear-enrichment technology, which many suspect is part of a weapons program, Egypt, Jordan and other Gulf states have expressed their own desire for nuclear energy programs.

While Blix noted that Iran has the right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium, he stressed that that capacity could create tension in the Middle East.  Iran has to date ignored the U.N. Security Council’s demand that it halt uranium enrichment (see related GSN story, today).

Blix said he was supportive of the Egypt’s and Jordan’s expressed goals.  “I am positive to Jordan and am also positive to Egypt for nuclear power,” he said according to AP.

He cautioned, however, that concerns about nonproliferation, operational safety, and waste disposal would have to be addressed before those countries begin their efforts.

“We will need then to have a system … of commitments on nonproliferation and a system of inspection in place to give the confidence,” he said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency in 2005 scrutinized Egypt’s nuclear activities, concluding that Egypt had been conducting atomic research for up to 40 years (see GSN, March 2, 2005).  The agency determined, however, that that research was not directed toward a nuclear weapon and did not involve enrichment.

Both Egypt and Jordan are signatories to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and have made calls for Middle East free of unconventional weapons.

Pressed on the Iran standoff, Blix said Tehran should be offered as inducements normalized relations with the international community and security assurances (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Jan. 26).

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